Suspension arrangement for heat exchanger plates

ABSTRACT

A heat exchanger plate is provided in its upper edge with a dove-tailed shaped recess which receives a horizontal flange of a suspension shaft, the recess being partly defined by spaced edge portions of the plate which rest upon the flange. At the lower part of the recess, the plate has a section protruding upwardly toward the shaft and operable to prevent substantial vertical and lateral movements of the plate relative to the shaft; but the recess adjacent this section is dimensioned to permit removal of the plate from the shaft by swinging the plate in its own plane.

States atent Johansson [451 May 30,1972

[54] SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENT FOR [21] Appl. No.: 43,011

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 13, 1969 Sweden ..8428/69 [56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 952,477 1 H1949 France 165/166 510,435 7/1939 Great Britain ..16/87.2 755,876 8/1956 Great Britain 165/166 Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney-Davis, Hoxie, F aithfull & Hapgood [5 ABSTRACT A heat exchanger plate is provided in its upper edge with a dove-tailed shaped recess which receives a horizontal flange of a suspension shaft, the recess being partly defined by spaced edge portions of the plate which rest upon the flange. At the lower part of the recess, the plate has a section protruding upwardly toward the shaft and operable to prevent substantial vertical and lateral movements of the plate relative to the shaft; but the recess adjacent this section is dimensioned to permit removal of the plate from the shaft by swinging the plate in its own plane.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDmao I972 3,666,226

sum 1 or 2 INVENTOR. KARL BORTE- TOHANSSON PATENTEDMAY 30 I972 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTOR. KARL BORTE 'J'OH/INSS 0N 3W mimm SUSPENSION ARRANGEMENT FOR HEAT EXCHANGER PLATES The present invention relates to heat exchangers of the plate type and more particularly to an improved suspension arrangement for the heat exchanger plates.

For suspending heat exchanger plates, arrangements comprising a shaft with a circular cross-section have previously been used. The shaft carries plates provided with holes corresponding to the shaft. Such an arrangement, however, has serious disadvantages, as a separate plate in the middle of the plate pack cannot be removed directly from the pack.

In order to avoid this disadvantage, it has been proposed to provide the upper edge of each plate with an upwardly opening recess instead of a hole. For the suspension of the plate in this case, a shackle pivotally connected to the plate is required, the shackle being arranged to bridge such recess.

The cylindrical suspension shaft for heat exchanger plates has been gradually replaced by a so-called I-beam, the recess in each plate being adapted to the lower flange of the I-beam by giving the recess a generally dove-tail shape. The recess in the plate, however, must be made considerably larger than the flange it is designed to receive, in order to make it possible to suspend the plate on the I-beam and remove it therefrom. This entails the disadvantage that the plates in the plate pack may become displaced relative to each other both laterally and vertically, which in the most unfavorable cases could lead to leakage of a heat exchanging medium past the usual edge gaskets situated around the plates.

One proposal for solving this problem is disclosed in the British Pat. specification No. 1,129,924. This solution is unnecessarily complicated and expensive, however, and also results in a sacrifice in the strength of the suspension shaft.

The present invention provides another solution of the problem of suspending the heat exchanger plates. According to this solution, the generally dove-tail shaped recess in the plate is retained (in contrast to what is disclosed in the British specification mentioned above), and the plate is provided with an upwardly projecting section in the lower part of this recess, which section raises toward the suspension shaft and prevents any considerable relative movement between the plate and the suspension shaft. The recess adjacent this section is so dimensioned in relation to the shaft that the plate is removable from the latter by a swinging movement in its own plane. In this way there is achieved a suspension arrangement which, on one hand, efficiently prevents any relative movement between different plates in a plate pack, either laterally or vertically, and on the other hand allows a very simple suspension of the plates and a very simple removal of a separate plate anywhere in the plate pack.

The invention will be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a suspension arrangement with one heat exchanger plate according to the inven tion, and

FIG. 2 is a similar view, with parts broken away, showing how the heat exchanger plate is removed from the suspension shaft.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the suspension arrangement comprises an I-beam 1 having a lower horizontal flange la on which a heat exchanger plate 2, provided with a dove-tail shaped recess 3 in its upper edge, is suspended. The edge of the plate is strengthened around the recess 3, as is indicated by a dotted line 4. At the lower edge of the recess 3, the plate 2 has a central section 5 protruding upwardly toward the suspension shaft 1 and which prevents the plate, when it is suspended on the shaft, from moving either vertically or laterally. The plate 2 has bevelled edges 6 at the upper part of the recess.

In the lower part of the plate 2 there is a similar recess 7. Through this lower recess 7 extends a shaft 8 parallel to the suspension shaft 1 and which functions to prevent a swinging of the suspended plate 2 in its own plane.

With the plate 2 suspended as shown in FIG. 1, its spaced edge portions 2a t(which partly define recess 3) rest upon the lower horizontal ange 1a of suspension shaft 1, and there is only a small clearance between the upper edge of plate section 5 and the overlying part of shaft 1. Consequently, the section 5 prevents any substantial vertical movement of the plate relative to shaft 1, whereby any substantial lateral movement of the plate relative to the shaft is also prevented due to the configuration of recess 3.

When removing one plate in the plate pack from the shaft 1, the conventional means (not shown) for clamping the plates together are loosened, and then all the plates on one side of the plate to be removed are pushed along the suspension shaft 1. This is made possible by the small clearance between the shaft 1 and the upwardly protruding section 5 of each plate. Thereafter, the plate is removed from the lower shaft 8 by swinging it around its suspension points on the suspension shaft 1 in a direction perpendicular to its own plane. Not until then is the plate swung in its own plane to the position, relative to the suspension shaft 1, which is illustrated in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the plate can thereafter be lifted away from the suspension shaft 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow a. The bevellings at 6 facilitate this last mentioned operation.

When suspending a plate 2 on the suspension shaft 1, a reverse order of the operations previously described is used.

With the suspension arrangement described above, the plates are kept in pre-determined positions relative to the suspension shaft 1 and to each other. At the same time, a simple removal and re-suspension of a plate in the middle of the plate pack can be effected.

The upwardly protruding section 5 in the recess 3 of each plate may, of course, be shaped in different ways within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a rigid suspension shaft having a horizontal flange, a heat exchanger plate having a generally dove-tail shaped recess in the upper edge of the plate, said recess being dimensioned to receive said flange and being partly defined by spaced edge portions of the plate resting on said flange to suspend the plate, said plate having at the lower part of the recess a section protruding upwardly toward said shaft and operable to prevent substantial vertical and lateral movements of the plate relative to the shaft, said protruding section and the recess adjacent said section being dimensioned relative to the shaft to permit removal of the plate from the shaft by swinging the plate in its own plane.

2. The combination according to claim 1, in which said protruding section tapers upwardly to a rounded edge positioned to pivot on the lower surface of said flange while swinging the plate in its own plane sufficiently to remove the plate from the shaft. 

1. In combination with a rigid suspension shaft having a horizontal flange, a heat exchanger plate having a generally dove-tail shaped recess in the upper edge of the plate, said recess being dimensioned to receive said flange and being partly defined by spaced edge portions of the plate resting on said flange to suspend the plate, said plate having at the lower part of the recess a section protruding upwardly toward said shaft and operable to prevent substantial vertical and lateral movements of the plate relative to the shaft, said protruding section and the recess adjacent said section being dimensioned relative to the shaft to permit removal of the plate from the shaft by swinging the plate in its own plane.
 2. The combination according to claim 1, in which said protruding section tapers upwardly to a rounded edge positioned to pivot on the lower surface of said flange while swinging the plate in its own plane sufficIently to remove the plate from the shaft. 